Life With Nine Kids

Saturday, May 19, 2012

The New Birds Arrived

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Charlotte, 15 and Everett, 1

Changes to the OrderWe ended up getting one turkey instead of four and no meat birds. I chickened out. (ha!) I felt like I was overloading my dear husband if I got them all. Two weeks before the chicks were due to hatch & ship we had: a retaining wall fall down, a bad rain water drain problem occur outside (which includes a newly found foundation crack/leak in the basement), AND a driveway patch and repair problem all come up...all in the same week. I could tell the very back, back yard where I had planned on raising four turkeys and 25 dinner table chickens was not going to get fenced in.

So, I decided in a panic that we can't do any turkeys or meat birds. We have too much to do. So on the the phone as I'm canceling all the meat birds I immediately realize I need to add a couple birds to meet my minimum shipping amount (for warmth and safety). So while on the phone altering my order I blurt out, "I want one turkey."

(Hahah. I just wanted to raise a turkey so bad!)

Getting one turkey is totally a dumb thing to do. Turkeys are not known for being very hardy or easy to raise. So now I have this one little turkey that knows he's different. You'd think he (or she?) wouldn't know, but "he" does. The poor little thing stands off by it's self all lonely like. The first day he arrived I even said he looked confused. I feel bad I ordered only one turkey, not just for it's social interaction and self-esteem (Aunt Sharon's laughing at this part right now :) but also because if it dies that's my only shot at raising my first turkey. I should have got at least two! Right from the start all the birds were super healthy and active. Things were fantastically great for two days, then Turkey-Lurkey starts laying around all sick like. An hour and a half later though he's peppy again. Now this morning he looks sick again. I start to think he is just a really lazy sleeper and really comfy on his heated area. I hope. After searching online I finally read something about baby turkeys being limp, crashed out, floppy sleepers. (Seriously he looks like he is dying!) So looks like Turkey-Lurky is normal -for now.

I'm giving him GSE drops in his water, which is supposed to really help with blackhead disease and anything else than can kill a turkey. So I'm hopeful.

He (or she?) is an odd and cute little fellow.

This brings me to another thought...if I spend so much energy keep this little turkey alive will I really butcher it? I should have bought more than one turkey darn it. Who buys just one turkey!!?? Sheesh. Ricky, a real farmer, calls him Butterball.

The Birds

All the birds arrived four days ago. We have goslings! They. Are. Cute.

They are unbelievably soft and fuzzy! Especially on their underside.

They are all getting along famously in their brooder house during the warmth of the day (no heat source needed).

I bring them all in at night where they sleep on a heating pad in a pillow case inside a plastic tub, as pictured above.

I don't usually use heat lamps due to fire hazard and chance of kids getting burned while they help out. I like using a heating pad covered in a pillow case. It works for us. Some time

soon-ish I plan on writing a post about the care of birds and how/why we do it that way.

Note: you do have to check on them often though.

The birds are so excited to be released in the brooder house each day. They run, skip and jump around. The chicks have already started scratching (but only in the brooder house, not in the plastic tub). It's really neat to see. They seem really happy.

I change their water every half hour to hour (except overnight where I leave it for 7-8 hours, unless I get up in the middle of the night). A few drops of GSE go into the water every time. I use purified water. I clean their plastic tub daily, their brooder house shouldn't need cleaned for a long time. Unless we have a sick or dead bird. I love this many birds. It's the perfect number. I had 40 at once one time and we lost a few. I think the smaller flocks are much easier to manage. You can tell if there are any trouble makers quickly, or sick ones. Healthy robust birds will pick on small, weak, sick, or pasty butt birds.

We have one black chick with pasty butt. It's usually harmless, but the chicks were picking on him. He's separated for now and doing very well.

Soon I have to write about my guinea hens! They have proven to be quite fun and the most satisfying to raise!

Everett can't really hold them, for obvious toddler reasons, so after a while he gets upset at us not letting him hold them by the neck. This is a picture of him crying WHILE simultaneously squealing in delight. Really cute and sad.

Poor little guy.

UPDATE: Turkey Lurkey died. Never will I get one turkey alone again, they need to be paired in even numbers. I have found nothing online saying this yet, but I have info now from people that says so. Bummer, poor thing. This winter, if it's a mild winter, I'll work on their official pen and shelter and be ready spring 2013!

Getting everyone to look at the same time in a photo has been more challenging than ever lately, and by lately I mean for at least a year. N...

Why I Write This Blog

I write for myself and I write for our kids. I write about life, farming, birth, kids, love, and more. These are the stories, thoughts, and feelings I want to remember. Reading back lets me relive so much and I want to be able to do that when the kids are grown. Writing is also therapeutic. It helps people sort out feelings and it is a great creative process! No matter who you are, or how well you might write, writing is good for you!

About Me

We have 9 kids ages 20 through one year old. Besides kids we have 4 dogs, 4 cats, chickens, turkey, goats, rabbits and geese. My husband and I are crazy about each other; we embrace traditional family roles, and obviously like having a houseful of kids. I'm into vintage/retro things, art, and starting new projects. I enjoy homemaking and farming. I'm a trained doula and home birth advocate and have had seven fantastic unassisted births. I have a intense passion for: being a good mom and wife, natural family living and child care, turkey farming, gardening, canning, homesteading, re-purposing, up-cycling, natural baby care, unassisted birth and midwifery. My hubby grew up on a farm (that experience comes in super handy) and has a degree in economics and a masters in finance. Our family is the most important thing to us and we just love our hectic kid-crazy life! I hobby blog a bunch because I enjoy writing; I also write here because I can save a blog as a pdf file and print them up as memories and stories from our life. I want to always have these memories, because so many do fade. I want my children to one day read about how much we love them and each other.